The Golden Grizzlies’ Track and Field team opened up the new year with their first meet this past Friday, heading back to Saginaw Valley State University to compete in the SVSU Classic. 

In their first indoor meet, the athletes representing the Golden Grizzlies would set an astounding 45 personal records with their performances. Three of those personal records were so impressive, that they would go on to set indoor school records for the sport. 

Lauren Christian, current junior [then sophomore] and shot-put standout and recipient of the the Student Athlete of the Year Award, reached a distance of 45 feet and 2.5 inches in the shot-put competition. She now holds both the indoor and outdoor shot-put school records for Oakland. 

Christian was not the only athlete to star during that meet, as junior Azsah Bradley would go on to blitz the competition as a sophomore and take home the indoor school record in the process as she finished the 60-yard dash with a time of 7.52 seconds. She also finished second in the 200-yard dash with a time of 24.85 seconds. 

The men’s 4×400 relay team would also like a repeat of their success from their last meet, as the entire team went on to set an indoor record during the competition. The team, composed of sophomore Ray Braziel, junior Eddie Harrell III, junior Justin Kudera and freshman Gabriel Singh blazed the trails and set a record time of 3 minutes and 14.93 seconds. 

Singh, in what was his collegiate debut, was the standout star of the competition as he notched third place in the 400’s with a time of 50.01 seconds and came in first place during the 200’s with a time of 22.13 seconds. 

These standouts are not the only athletes hoping to repeat their star-making performances at this year’s SVSU Classic. Graduate Student Maddi Leigh won last year’s mile race with a time of 5:09.55 and senior Megan Nichols took home the win in the 5000-meter run with a time of 17:49.59 .

Alongside these performances, senior Connor Goetz also placed first in the 5000-meter run with a time of 14:51.39 and junior Chandler Lorf wouldn’t be too far behind him, finishing second in the same race. 

Senior Paige Sanders placed first in the long jump competition with a distance of 16 feet and 2.25 inches. Senior Megan Kusler tied for first in the pole vault with a height of 10 feet and 8.75 inches, while sophomore Alexis Hunter and senior Hannah Hall finished first in the triple jump and second in the high jump with a distance of 35 feet and 11.5 inches and a height of 5 feet and 2.5 inches, respectively. 

The Golden Grizzlies will look to continue their success all season long with this and every meet that follows it.